Latest News
Defending champions Oracabessa, Knox put all-island titles on the line
April 28, 2026
Male and female urban area volleyball champions Papine High and Immaculate Conception high will attempt to return the ISSA all-island titles to the Corporate Area, when they face defending rural and all-island champions Oracabessa High and Knox College, respectively, at G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sport today.
In the boys' category, urban area champions Papine High will get another shot at Oracabessa for the national title, after the St Mary school bettered them in the all-island final last term.
In the urban final, Papine were relentless in their power service and hitting, as they defeated Wolmer's 3-1 (19-25, 25-19, 25-11, 25-21).
Oracabessa, on the other hand, won their rural area final against The Manning School fairly comfortably, defeating their opponents 3-0 (25-22, 15-14, 25-15).
In the female urban final, Immaculate Conception won their first ever volleyball title, with a 3-1 win over many-time champions Wolmer's Girls.
Wolmer's took the first set 25-18. However, Immaculate rallied to take the second set 25-11. Immaculate then went on to take the next two sets 25-15, 25-13, to claim the title.
FEMALE DECIDER
In the rural area's female decider, three-time defending champions Knox College eased past Godfrey Stewart 3-0 to book their place in a fourth successive final. Knox won 25-6, 25-12, and 35-33.
After their relatively easy win over Wolmer's in the urban final, Papine coach Philando Thompson is expecting a much more 'intense' match in the all-island showdown.
"I can just imagine that it will be a more intense game. We will be going back to the drawing board. We'll be training, running some plays, as we know for a fact that it will be an intense match," Thompson anticipated.
Although missing key pieces, Oracabessa are favoured to defend their title, and coach Raheem Wallace is confident they have what it takes to retain the title.
"Our key go-to player is absent now so we had to train somebody else to do the role. We just hope that our powers (hitters) and libero can control the game," he said.
Meanwhile, Knox go in hunt for a fourth straight national title, but despite their favourites tag, coach Colin Rose, believes it will come down to who wants it more.
"I won't make a call as yet (regarding retaining the title). Let us see on the day, because it all depends on who comes out on the day, who plays on the day and who wants it more on the day," he said.
EAGER
Nicholas Wilson of Immaculate said after losing the urban final last year, they were eager to get back to this stage, and now they want to go even further and crown themselves all-island champions.
"Last year we had a lot of individuals. Despite us being very good we weren't a team. This year we came together as a team and did what we were supposed to do, and that was to win the urban area title," said Wilson.
"It (all-island final) is going to be a spectacular one for the neutral fans. We want to go out and give our best. We are not going to go there and lay down. We are going to compete and do our best," he added.
"We hope we can push them and also push ourselves to limits we haven't pushed ourselves before and we are hopeful and we are confident we can win the all-island title as well," he said.
